Category: Civics

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NAC Election Coming Up in April

Frankford NAC Election for Committee Members

 

The Frankford Neighborhood Advisory Committee (NAC) serves as a subcommittee of the Frankford Community Development Corporation (CDC).  The purpose of the committee is to assist the Frankford CDC with fulfilling it’s obligations to the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Housing and Community Development.  The NAC board provides citizens with adequate opportunity to participate in decisions made around the delivery of affordable housing resources and development in the Frankford community.

 

Election for committee members will be held on Tuesday, April 7th, 2015.  Community residents will elect committee members.  The polling locations and times are as follows:
McIlvain Recreation Center                                     5200 Penn Street                    3PM – 6PM
Turning Points for Children’s FAWN Food Pantry   4346 Frankford Avenue           1PM – 6PM
Northeast Treatment Center                                   4625 Frankford Avenue            9AM – 3PM
Frankford Community Development Corporation   4900 Griscom Street                 5PM – 7PM

 

Voters will need to show proof that they live in the NAC Service Area.  State ID or 2 Utility Bills wills be accepted as proof of address.

 

Any resident who would like serve on the committee should contact Christine DeJesus, NAC Coordinator at (215) 743 – 6580 or by email at cdejesus@frankfordcdc.org.  Candidates need to provide a brief bio to be advertised to residents.  The bios need to be sent to Christine by Thursday, March 12th at 5PM..
The boundaries of the NAC service area are Roosevelt Boulevard from Cheltenham Avenue down to the Delaware River over to Granite Street and From Granite Street to the Frankford Creek to Tacony Street back up to Roosevelt Boulevard and Whitaker Avenue.
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PSA1 Meeting

There will be a meeting for PSA1 tomorrow night at 7PM at Aria Hospital at 4900 Frankford Avenue.  Come meet the police and your fellow neighbors who are concerned about crime in PSA1 which includes Frankford/Northwood and Bridesburg.

Want a great graphic of crime in Frankford, go to Trulia and have a look.  Also give you some interesting data on other facts of life in Frankford.

 

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Frankford NAC February Meeting

The Frankford NAC met February 12th to consider two zoning cases.  Both involved legalizing the existing use of the properties after new owners had purchased them.  4800 Tacony Street is a two unit apartment with a space or a store.  It was approved with the proviso that the L&I violations had been corrected.  4530 Griscom Street has been used as a duplex but is zoned mixed use commercial.  The owner needed a variance to use it for two apartments.  It was also approved with no community opposition.   Both properties are being upgraded.  The next meeting of the Frankford NAC will be on March 13th at 7PM at 2nd Baptist Church at 1801 Meadow Street.

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Northwood Civic Association February Meeting Agenda

MEETING NOTICE

Northwood Civic Association

Tuesday February 17th 2015 @ 7:00PM

St. James Church – Castor Ave. & Pratt Sts.

 

Water Department Representative will attend to give information and answer questions on the upcoming capital project that is to begin on Adams Avenue.

 

Streets Department Representative to attend and answer questions about trash pickup and other concerns.

 

This is a very important informational meeting as the Water Dept. project will affect much of the neighborhood.

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SEPTA Police Chief at Frankford Civic

SEPTA police chief Tom Nestel spoke at the Frankford Civic Association meeting on February 5th.  The issue that prompted the invitation was the most recent PSA meeting where residents noted that criminal activity is rampant at the Margaret-Orthodox El station, often apparently under the eyes of SEPTA personnel.  The individuals who sell drugs openly stand at the top of the El steps and don’t seem to be intimidated by SEPTA police.  When Philadelphia police are in the area, they will often move on to SEPTA property seemingly using it as a safe haven.

Nestel said that January 11th saw redeployment in district 4 which is headed by Sgt Cavallaro and includes the Margaret-Orthodox El station.  It now has double the number of personnel than any other district.  That redeployment was driven by data indicating that crimes rates in district 4 are the highest in the system.  He acknowledged that this area has not been receiving the attention it should and said “Give me a couple of months and see if there is a difference”.

He went on to talk about the Broken windows theory and its application to crime on the SEPTA system.  Last year there were 5,172 arrests for fare evasion  while at the same time felony crime went down by 16% after 10 years of rising crime.  Nestel says “If they think they can get away with jumping the turnstiles they’ll think they can get away with robbing somebody”.  “If you’re selling loosies, you’re not doing it to make a living or to feed your kids.  You’re not going to make enough money selling loosies to take care of anybody.  You’re selling loosies to be in an area so that you can watch and look and see for a better opportunity to arise.”

The result has been push back from the court system which has had to add days on the calendar exclusively dedicated to SEPTA arrests.

But the big question from the Veronica Daniel, who lead the talk for the CDC was are the SEPTA police and the PPD (Philadelphia Police Department) working together to address the crime issue not only at Margaret-Orthodox but all along the line in Frankford?

The answer is – not so much.  In regard to resources, the PPD has 6500 officers while SEPTA has 275.  Nestel says he has excellent relationships with both Captain McCloskey and Commissioner Ramsey but it is apparent at this point that the Captain feels he has adequate resources to do the job.

However, SEPTA does monitor the J band on police radio and when a need arises, offers assistance to the PPD.  Nestel notes “We didn’t know about the robbery pattern surrounding Frankford and Bridge until one of our customers told us” but when they became aware of the situation they deployed one of their mobile video cameras which did in fact record one of the robberies taking place.

One interesting piece of information is that SEPTA has 13,000 video cameras and their radio dispatch can look at any one of them if they get a call.  So if you see something suspicious like that guy making the hand off on the platform, call 215-580-8111 and tell them what’s going on.  If you have a major non time critical gripe call Tom Nestel or better yet email him.  215-580-3640  email tnestel@septa.org

I recommend that you take a look at the video of the meeting, its long but not boring and very informative.  Part 1 is below.  This is a link to part 2 and here is a link to part 3.

The next Frankford Civic Association meeting will be held on March 5th at 7PM at St. Mark’s Church.